True Reincarnation: Persona
by Zantetsuken Reverse
Summary: When a strange epidemic of insanity strikes the city of Haruhata, transfer student Aleph Mekata and his friends are on the job! Except something's strange about the whole mess. Who is running the mysterious Amala App? Who else is taking an interest in the Shadows? And why, for the love of YHVH, is Aleph's Persona sentient? A Shin Megami Tensei story, Persona style.
1. Chapter 1

I came up with this idea when I got annoyed with people who say that SMT is becoming too Persona-like. Then I figured that a Persona game with SMT characters was a pretty decent idea on its own.

This will not just be a Persona story with the names of SMT characters. Even if I did have to fabricate practically everyone's personalities from scratch. The SMT games will have a bearing on the plot, but I can't say how or why at this point.

Just as a warning: I will be inconsistent with Japanese conventions. Everything I know about Japan is from anime or video games. For that purpose, I will not use honorifics because I know I'll screw it up anyways. Besides, I'd rather not refer to characters by their surnames if they don't have canon surnames to begin with.

I'm not going to keep track of the calendar, because I don't know holidays, and it would be too easy to write myself into a time crunch. I will do Social Links, but I'm not sure if I can quantize everyone's problems into ten sections.

Day 0 (Sunday)

The night air was damp and cold. A faint aroma of copper lingered in the unseen mist, mingling with the scent of mud and decay. The only sound was a faint whistling of wind echoing in the distance, like the ghost of whale song.

Aleph stumbled across sandy, uneven ground, hand held gingerly in front of him. It was too dark to see. The only source of light was far above him, a tiny white circle that illuminated nothing. Aleph had thought it was the moon at first, until he realized that no moon had such perfect symmetry; a single ring of shadow marred the pearly surface halfway between the edge and center, giving it the look of a target at the shooting ranges.

"I art thou…"

Aleph found that his feet had stopped moving. A figure stood before him, a humanoid silhouette darker than the gloom. Its voice was little more than a whisper, but a nagging feeling told Aleph that he knew it from somewhere.

"Thou art me…"

The figure reached out and grabbed Aleph's shoulder. Suddenly, the dim light at the top of his vision became unbearable, and he was forced to avert his eyes. After a few wet blinks, the impenetrable darkness resolved itself into a sandy floor.

Aleph looked up, and the landscape revealed itself to him. A lifeless desert met his eyes, dotted by odd chunks of rusted metal like bones in a desert. There was neither sky nor horizon; instead, walls of sheer rock stretched as far as he could see. There was no color in this world, just muted tones of gray.

"Looks like you're the one I've got."

The figure alone remained a blot of pure black in a world of gray. Something about that silhouette looked familiar, but Aleph couldn't quite place where he had seen it.

"You'll do."

Suddenly, the train lurched, and Aleph faded from the dream. Thoughts of spooky cliffs were replaced with the scenery of the train around him, the sleeping businessman next to him, and the digital clock on the wrist of a schoolgirl sitting two seats ahead on the opposite side. He tapped his pockets for his phone and wallet, but not before making sure that the ski bag with his bow was still there. Within moments, the fine details of the dream eluded him, save one.

"It wasn't the moon," he muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes. "It was a hole."

X

Aleph Mekata shielded his eyes from the glare of the morning sun as he emerged from the station. Despite the sunshine and gentle breeze, it was a chilly April day.

Aunt Hiroko was supposed to pick him up, but she hadn't been anywhere inside the station. Aleph had texted her a few times before, but she hadn't sent back a single reply. If she hadn't asked him about allergies a few weeks back, Aleph might have thought that his parents gave him the wrong number. It wasn't the first time, either; he had once attempted to make a dental appointment at an upscale barbershop and didn't realize his mistake until he asked what washing his hair had to do with his calculus.

" _This is Hiroko Mekata_ ," said the tinny answering machine when Aleph gave her a call. "… _I never check this thing, so don't bother to leave a message. Just text me_."

Aleph scoped out the area, but the only blonde woman he saw was a photographer taking pictures of the surrounding buildings. Shuddering, he put on his jacket and plopped himself down on a park bench, watching the clouds drift by lazily like yaks.

It was a quarter to eleven when Aunt Hiroko finally showed up. By then, Aleph was so engrossed in the clouds that he didn't notice until she tapped him on the shoulder.

If an outsider to Mekata family affairs saw Aleph and Hiroko together, they certainly wouldn't think that they were aunt and nephew. [1] To start with, Hiroko was blonde where Aleph was dark. Aleph was tall, with shoulders and back broad from archery practice, while Hiroko was short, but with arms and legs thick and muscular from police training.

Also, thanks to a pair of grandparents who had many children through two decades, and multiple sets of parents with early illegitimate and late legitimate children, Hiroko was less than a decade older than Aleph.

"Hello, Aleph," panted Aunt Hiroko. Her face was glistening with sweat, and her jacket was tied around her waist despite the cold. "Sorry I'm late. I slept through my alarm clock."

"It's all right, Aunt Hiroko," said Aleph politely. He knew she was lying, but it was always awkward to tell that to strangers.

Hiroko lifted Aleph's suitcase. "You can call me Hiroko. I don't care if I really am your aunt; if you're too old to be my teen pregnancy, you're too old to call me that. How was your trip?"

"I slept the whole way," said Aleph.

"Are you sure no one robbed you?"

"I checked," said Aleph.

"Even your luggage?"

"I checked it between naps. Everything important was there. If someone did rob me, I don't mind losing a shirt or two."

Hiroko nodded in approval. "Sorry. Work habit. It's been a long night."

Aleph racked his brains for Hiroko's job. "You're…a police officer, right?" he said.

"Yup, I'm a beat cop," she said. She jerked her head towards the shops surrounding the station. "You hungry?"

"Yes," said Aleph.

"Let's get lunch, then. My treat. What do you want?"

"Is there a hamburger place around here?"

X

The nearest good hamburger place, according to Hiroko, was called Factory Burger, and it was just a short walk from the station. It was a small, cramped place with an industrial aesthetic; the walls were made from sheets of rippled metal, decorative pipes ran the length of the ceiling, and the seating was partitioned by barred metal fences. It smelled of window cleaner and grease.

Hiroko ordered two double Nandi burgers (Aleph privately wondered how that name hadn't gotten any religious complaints), a Spartan-sized fries, a chocolate malted milkshake, and a cola.

"So…how's life been?" asked Hiroko after it was clear that Aleph wasn't going to start a conversation.

"Good," said Aleph.

"Do any sports?"

"Archery," said Aleph, patting the ski bag with his bow.

Hiroko looked like a literature teacher who found herself in a quantum physics convention. "So… you like archery?" she settled lamely.

"Yes. How is your job?"

"Hard. But satisfying."

There was more silence. Aleph hadn't seen Hiroko since he was a toddler, and the only memory he had of her was when she accidentally kicked him in the stomach during a particularly aggressive sugar-high fueled soccer game. It was hard to associate that bandaged elementary schooler with the woman in front of him.

"Do you… like… um… Pokémon?" hazarded Hiroko.

"Not really."

"That's… fine. Do you like Digimon better?"

"I like Doom."

"Ah, Doom," said Hiroko uncertainly. "I heard it's good, but I'm terrible at first person shooters. Do you like any other games?"

"Goldeneye."

"That's… a movie, right? Named after a beach in Jamaica?"

"It's a game made for a movie."

Their food arrived. They chewed in silence, wrapped up their leftovers in silence, and walked to the bus stop in silence.

X

Hiroko lived in an apartment complex next to an all-night Chinese takeout restaurant and a park. The apartment itself was messy in a neglected sort of way. The tables were dusty and empty, and the sink was full of unwashed dishes. There were no coat hangers, so Hiroko's coats were tossed over chairs. There were three laundry hampers, and one was overflowing. There were several trash bags in the corner, and more in the closet.

The pantry was full of things like instant ramen, canned soup, breakfast cereal, instant oatmeal, and jam. Half of the containers in the fridge were takeout containers, and the freezer held an impressive amount of ice cream bought in bulk next to frozen croquettes and fish. There was little in the way of raw meat or vegetables in either, but there was a crate of seven eggs in the fridge. Hiroko also had a sizable liquor cabinet, mostly made up of bottles of shochu or liqueur. The inside of the microwave smelled of toaster strudel and was stained with brown splotches. Aleph's gaze lingered on a bloodstain on the bathroom tile before Hiroko reassured him that there was absolutely nothing suspicious about it.

It was, in short, a place where someone ate and slept rather than lived.

"Before I forget, you need to know some things if you're going to live with me," said Hiroko as Aleph was examining the oven. He straightened up. "As you've probably noticed, I'm never in the house. I can't enforce curfew, so you can come and go whenever you want. I'd rather you'd leave notes, but those won't help if you come back before I do."

Aleph blinked. "No curfew? But you're a police officer. Aren't you supposed to keep minors off the streets at night?"

"That's exactly why I can't enforce your curfew," said Hiroko. "Police work is a full time job, and I happen to have the graveyard shift. If I'm out on the street keeping the peace, I can't do anything about my own home. Cobber's children have no shoes and all. Just don't do anything stupid or illegal while you're out there."

"Okay," said Aleph.

"I only cook on weekends, so you're going to have to either cook for yourself or buy your own food," continued Hiroko. "But don't worry about money; your parents are sending me a food allowance," she added when she saw Aleph's expression. "I'll leave it on the table. Do you think you're going to cook at all?"

Aleph nodded. "I do it all the time at home."

"Then do you mind making some for me, too? I'll leave you a bigger cut if you do. But you don't need to if you're too busy."

"Can I bring…friends over?" asked Aleph. He never had friends outside of his siblings, but he could hope.

"Of course you can. Just give me some advance notice and clean up after yourselves. Don't hide it if you bring a girl… or guy over for sex; I don't care about your love life as long as you keep it safe and legal, but don't bring anyone here without my permission. I won't tell your parents about it if you don't want me to, unless you try to hide it from me."

Aleph nodded grimly.

"Now that that's settled… come on, let's get you unpacked. You can use Dad's room; he said he's all right with it."

"How is he?" asked Aleph.

"He's doing fine. Working on a project in America. He can't talk about the details, but he's very excited about it. How are your…"

Hiroko trailed off, but the unsaid word 'parents' hung in the air. She cleared her throat. "You can use the drawers, but the closet's off-limits. Is that all right?"

Aleph and Hiroko unpacked, barely speaking. Afterwards, Hiroko showed Aleph the sights around town, mostly takeout shops. She went to bed around four, leaving Aleph alone with the television.

X

"The spontaneous and anonymous charity acts known as the March Miracles have continued into April, as more homeless shelters, orphanages, and soup kitchens discover large amounts of unmarked bills on their doorsteps. Orphanage director Roland Blitz states that…"

"In other news, another person has vanished. A junior high school student with the surname of Toriyama has been reported missing after three days. His family has declined to release his first name, and has included the filler name of…"

"A record number of Thneeds were sold last month…"

X

The dank air tasted of copper. Ribbons of pale light streamed from above, like the moon over deep water.

"You again," said Aleph, without even needing to look behind him.

The figure let out a short a hum of amusement. "Sharper than I expected."

"I've seen you before," said Aleph.

"Oh?" said the figure, twisting its limbs. "Where?"

"Last night."

The figure slumped in disappointment. "I thought you figured it out," he said. "Oh well. You'll know soon enough."

"Is that really copper I smell, or blood?"

"That's metal you're smelling. No blood was left behind. Everyone was swallowed whole. Even our…"

The figure shuddered. Without warning, the figure grabbed Aleph's shoulders. "Something terrible is going on!" he wailed, shaking Aleph. Aleph squirmed, but the figure had a grip like industrial clamps. "The other one saw it, the wall's gone, and—oh no, you're fading…"

Aleph's eyes opened, and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. "Even our what?" he muttered to himself.

X

In a cathedral of white stone, tiles of blue stained crimson with fresh blood, a boy shivered in the cold.

In a hall of dark wood, created as a bridge of peace, a young woman discovered the button that destroyed the world.

In an iron cage in a land where prison was in the minds of all, a young woman listened for thunder.

In a desert with no end, at the foot of the tower of fate, a boy glared at the fiery false sun.

In a cavern created twice as the hope of the abandoned, a young man pushed against the massive stone doors.

In a plaza where idols were sacrificed on the altar of fanaticism, a young woman watched the leaves drift in the wind.

In a shop smelling of coffee and gunpowder, a boy marveled at the gleam of the counter.

In a crater where his home once stood, a boy adjusted his eyes to the darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED!

[1] Aleph and Hiroko as nephew and aunt: I changed their relationship to son and mother to nephew and aunt because it would needlessly complicate the plot. I needed Aleph to move in with an older relative for the purpose of the plot, and grow steadily closer with a Social Link. If it's his mother, that carries a lot more baggage than his aunt. I'm not ready to write that level of drama. So Aleph is not Hiroko's secret teen pregnancy.

It's also more important for Hiroko's character for her to be a rookie cop than having a close-to-canon relationship with Aleph. Besides, they're physically around the same age in canon.


	2. Chapter 2

As long as I can drag it out, mostly everyone with a name or a physical description will be based off of someone from a non-Persona SMT game or spinoff.

Asahi wasn't even supposed to be in this story; I put her in as a cameo, and her personality just moved the story from there.

For some reason, Nanashi looks a bit like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, especially the twitter profile picture.

There will be Social Links, but no romantic ones. I'm not interested in romance, and it doesn't fit how I characterize Aleph. Even if his characterization is very blank.

The second half of this story is now completely different from before.

Day 1 (Monday)

It was a short walk to Haruhata High School from Hiroko's apartment. Like every school at the start of the year, the air was abuzz with a haze of emotions. Excitement coated fear and despair like a chocolate pill. Islands of apathy and calm drifted like feathers in a hurricane of anticipatory stress. Impatience, dread, and joy mingled in irregular proportions.

But there was something else mixed in the soup of emotions, like a streak of hot sauce swirled into a bowl of chocolate pudding. It wasn't unnatural or abnormal, just out of place. That something set Aleph's nerves on edge, so much that he passed by his classroom three times before his teacher found him and pointed him in the right direction.

Like every anime protagonist ever, Aleph was assigned to class 2-A. His homeroom teacher, Mr. Gale, was one of the islands of calm. "This is Aleph Mekata," he said to the class in a low, uninflected voice. "He moved here from Tokyo."

"Please take care of me," said Aleph, writing his name on the chalkboard.

"Take the empty seat in the front," said Mr. Gale, gesturing to a conveniently placed empty desk.

Aleph sat down without a word.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as homeroom began, the students began mobbing Aleph with questions about Tokyo.

"Is it true that the yakuza beat up people who look at them funny?" asked a blonde, bearlike boy with a red scarf.

"Do people really run around like cosplayers all the time?" said a broad-shouldered boy with bright orange hair, a dark greenish-gray scarf draped over his hair and neck, and a green-stripe over the black uniform.

"I heard people in Tokyo wouldn't even care if someone got mugged right in front of them; has that ever happened to you?" asked a girl with goggles and a hat on her head.

"Er…um… I don't get out much," Aleph admitted. "Please stop crowding me?"

"You heard him," the girl with the goggles said to the bearlike student and the cosplayer. "Give the guy some space!" They edged away.

"Thanks," said Aleph faintly.

"No problem. I'm Asahi Toriyama," said the girl, giving him a huge smile and leaning ing, apparently oblivious to her little double standard. "It's good to meet you!"

"I'm Aleph Mekata," said Aleph, leaning backwards slightly. "It's…good to meet you too," he said without sincerity.

"Do you like Haruhata so far?"

"It's… nice," said Aleph. "I haven't seen much of it. Just the station."

"That's it?" said Asahi, leaning forward. "You've been missing out! Tell you what, I can show you around town after school."

"But… what about clubs?"

"They don't start signup until next week."

"What if we have homework?" said Aleph.

"Don't worry; we never get homework on the first day," said Asahi.

"We will be having homework on the first day," said Mr. Gale.

"Uh… homework on the first day can't be that hard?" said Asahi uncertainly.

"As we shall be learning the basic derivative, we will spend this week reviewing the limit," added Mr. Gale. "Your assignment will be the following problems in chapter 1…"

"I'd better shut up before he tells us that there will be a quiz tomorrow."

"I _am_ standing right here, Ms. Toriyama, Mr. Mekata," said Mr. Gale, crossing his arms. "There will not be a quiz until Thursday."

Aleph turned around. "Are teachers allowed to assign homework in homeroom?" he asked.

"No," admitted Mr. Gale. "However, I can inform you what you will be learning for your calculus class."

"Fair enough."

"I hate limits," grumbled Asahi.

"What you like or do not like is irrelevant, Ms. Toriyama," said Mr. Gale.

"I know, I know, 'Life without strife is like meat without salt," said Asahi flippantly.

The bell rung.

"Well, it was fun talking to you, Aleph," said Asahi. "We'd better be quiet. Ms. Angel hates it when we talk in class."

CRASH!

"What the…"

Alarmed, Aleph stood up and started looking for broken glass. A reddish-brown tint covered his vision, like he was about to faint, but he didn't feel the usual numbness in his teeth or the echo in his ear.

For a second, Aleph wondered why no one was shouting about the noise, when he realized that he couldn't hear anyone talking. Heart beating fast, he looked at Asahi, but she was frozen in place.

 _I art thou…_

"Who's there!?" shouted Aleph.

 _Thou art me…_

"Put everyone back!"

 _Thou shalt have my blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Sun Arcana…_

"Wait, 'choosest' is a word?!"

The voice remained silent.

After what felt like an eternity, the brown tint faded from Aleph's vision. Time resumed.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Mekata?" asked Mr. Gale.

Aleph's heart jumped a beat. "N-no, sir." he said. "Just stretching…"

"That is good. Stretching increases flexibility and prevents muscle atrophy," said Mr. Gale as he walked out the door. "Hello, Jenna."

"Hello, David," said a new voice. "See you at lunch."

A new teacher strode in, holding a large bowling ball and a rope. "Good morning, class," she said. "Today, we will be learning about evolution and survival of the fittest. Now, who wants to have this heavy bowling ball swung in their face?"

X

Nothing else happened to Aleph until lunchtime. Nothing interesting, that is, unless you like science, Japanese composition, English, or calculus. Still, he couldn't shake that sense of uneasiness.

Asahi had left to talk to one of her other friends, so Aleph went to the courtyard to eat lunch alone, as he usually did, when someone caught his eye.

A first year student, identifiable by his blue tie, was doing something with some sort of a gadget on his left arm. He was wearing a strange headset consisting of a single headphone on one temple and a monocle over one eye. Aleph wondered what part of this boy made him stop and stare, when the first year looked him in the eye.

"Do you need something?" asked the first year, chilly but cordial.

"Ah…"

At the sight of his face, Aleph was overcome with a wave of déjà vu. There was little resemblance, but looking at this boy's face was like looking at the face of his eldest brother Daleth. [1]

Aleph and Daleth had been best friends when they were children, until the day their father told Daleth that he had to leave. Aleph hadn't understood why, and his relatives gave him shifty looks and pretended they hadn't heard him whenever he asked questions. He had assumed it was one of those things where he'd be told when he was old enough, like those strange packets Beth had in her purse, but they hadn't told him even after his extensive lecture on sex.

Aleph hadn't seen his brother until they happened to meet at the airport a few months ago. Daleth's face had almost completely changed, and he sported a few scars that he refused to talk about, but Aleph knew right away that this was the same elementary schooler who picked fights over book quotes and dreamt of saving the world from aliens.

Something about this boy's face made Aleph think that he had known him long ago, but no memories surfaced.

"You're starting to creep me out," said the first year.

Aleph blinked. As certain as he was that Aleph knew this boy's face from somewhere, he was equally certain that he had never heard his voice. "What's your name?" he asked.

The boy's shoulders stiffened. "Kind of rude, asking someone his name without telling your own." The boy typed something else into the thing on his arm.

Aleph swallowed. "Aleph. Aleph Mekata."

"Aleph, hm?" said the boy, tilting his head. "Like Aleph-null and Aleph-one? The designations for infinity?"

"That's how it's spelled," said Aleph.

"I'm Kazuya," said the first year. He removed the headphones and monocle. "Are you all right? You look like you're about to cry."

Aleph blinked. He wasn't feeling particularly sad, but something must have shown on his face. "Have we met before?"

"I don't recall meeting you," said Kazuya. "But that doesn't mean that we haven't."

"Oh," said Aleph. "Sorry to bother you, then."

"It's fine," said Kazuya. He unbuckled the gauntlet around his wrist and put it in his bag. "Mom said I needed to make friends anyways. Want to sit with me?"

"Sure."

Aleph and Kazuya sat under one of the courtyard's trees and ate their bento.

"It's cold for April," said Aleph. "Is it normally like this?"

"Shouldn't a second year know?" asked Kazuya.

"I'm a transfer student," said Aleph.

"Oh," said Kazuya. "Where from?"

"Tokyo," said Aleph.

Kazuya blinked. "I'm from Tokyo," he said. "Kichijoji, to be exact."

"You moved here?"

"It was the best high school I could get into," said Kazuya in a measured tone. He was lying. "How come you transferred?"

Aleph went quiet.

"…Oh," said Kazuya. "It's one of _those_ things, isn't it. I won't pry, then. Say, do you like kendo?"

"No. But I like archery."

Kazuya's shoulders relaxed. "That explains your arms, then. Do you like coffee?"

"I prefer tea."

"Oh. What kind of tea do you like?"

"My favorite is ginger."

"Do you take it with honey, or no honey?"

Aleph and Kazuya chatted for so long that they almost neglected their food, and didn't notice the time until the bell rang.

"It was nice talking to you," said Kazuya. "Want to meet again tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," said Aleph. As Kazuya turned to leave, a sudden urge struck Aleph. "Do you want to look around town after school together?" he said, words tasting strange in his mouth. "You're new in town, too."

Kazuya's eyes lit up. "Okay," he said, voice not betraying the raw joy in his eyes. "Your parents won't mind?"

"My aunt won't notice if I'm not home."

"Then I'll meet you at this tree after school," said Kazuya.

CRASH!

The same reddish-brown tint came into Aleph's vision. Time froze for everyone except for him.

 _I art thou…_

"You again?" said Aleph.

 _Thou art me…_

"Are you real, or just a recording?"

 _Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Emperor Arcana…_

The reddish-brown lens faded from Aleph's vision.

"Are you all right?" asked Kazuya. He didn't seem to notice the time stop, either.

"I felt lightheaded for a moment," lied Aleph. "I'm fine now."

"Drink some water, then," said Kazuya. "Well, I have to get to class. Mr. O'Brien hates it when his students are late."

X

After the last class (Gym, by Mr. Lupa), Asahi asked Aleph if he wanted still her to show him around town.

"Of course," he said. "Do you mind if I bring a… friend?" The word tasted strange in his mouth. "He's new, too."

"Sure!" said Asahi with genuine cheer. "The more, the merrier!"

Aleph led Asahi to the courtyard, where Kazuya was tinkering with that arm gadget. "Kazuya!" shouted Aleph.

Kazuya looked up. "Hi, Aleph," he said. "Who's this?"

"I'm Asahi Toriyama," said Asahi. "Nice to meet ya!"

"My name is Kazuya," said Kazuya, shaking Asahi's hand. "Likewise."

"She'll be showing us around town today," said Aleph.

"Great," said Kazuya, typing something into that arm gadget of his. "I can test the mapping software."

"What's that thing on your arm?" asked Asahi.

"This?" said Kazuya, gleaming with pride. "It's a computer. I made it myself."

"Wow…" said Asahi. "That's incredible!"

"It took me five years to make it, and I'm still smoothing out bugs."

Aleph let Asahi gush over Kazuya's computer before they realized that he was waiting for them.

Asahi waved like a tour guide and mimed a megaphone. "Right this way, boys!"

Asahi walked them all around the city, commenting on everywhere they went, from the Factory Burger near the station ("I heard they use mutant cows, since they're cheap and easy to care for!"), to the apartment building for the rich next to the river ("It's really a hideout for the local yakuza! They go out and cut people up with their knives!"). She even told them a ghost story about how this high school girl was found dismembered in the park back in the nineties, and since she was an orphan, she started giving money to the soup kitchens in town.

"You sure know a lot about your hometown," said Kazuya, when they stopped to take a break at the ice cream shop rumored to be secretly run by fairies. "Not even I know this much about Kichijoji."

"I get around a lot," said Asahi breezily.

"May I ask you something, Asahi?" asked Aleph.

"Go ahead," said Asahi.

"What is everyone at school afraid of?"

"The usual, I guess," said Kazuya. "Death, exams, adulthood, poverty, getting…" Kazuya trailed off when he saw Asahi's aghast expression. "…Did I miss something?"

The temperature dropped ten degrees.

Asahi stiffened. "…Did someone put you up to this?"

Aleph shook his head. "I just got here. You two are the only people I've spoken to for more than ten seconds. Who could have asked me?"

"Then how did you know?" asked Asahi.

Aleph shrugged. "Body language," he said. "Voices. It's there if you know where to look. Something happened."

Asahi looked around nervously. "…I guess you'd find out sooner or later…"

Aleph and Kazuya looked at one another.

"…Judging by your reaction, I'm guessing that someone was killed?" said Kazuya carefully, clutching his bag.

"No," said Asahi, face turning dark. "Not quite."

"…You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," said Aleph. "We can ask-"

"No one wants to talk about it," interrupted Asahi. "You'd never hear anything from them. Cowards."

She jabbed her popsicle and Aleph and Kazuya. "I know this sounds like a stupid urban legend, but don't interrupt. I'm not asking you to believe me. I just want you to listen, and not tell anyone that I'm crazy. Got it?"

Aleph and Kazuya looked at each other.

"I already promised myself that I'm not going to humiliate my classmates," said Kazuya.

"Do I have a choice?" said Aleph.

"Good." Asahi took a deep breath. "It all started one year ago, with my lab partner. His real name was something like Yamamoto, but everyone called him Bat."

"Why Bat?"

"Cuz he liked drawing bats. He was always kind of slimy. Anyways, back in September, he started getting…weird. Weirder than usual, that is. His mood would swing every two minutes, and then he'd be back to normal."

"Maybe he's bipolar?" suggested Kazuya.

"My brother is bipolar," said Aleph. "That's not how mood swings work."

"I tried to keep him calm, but he was just… squishy," Asahi continued. "I'd say, 'The third stripe in a resistor is the power of ten, Bat,' and he'd start crying, or he'd start laughing hysterically when I filled the beakers. He'd do it once or twice a day at first, but then he'd go crazy once or twice every class."

"About a week after he started, he completely lost his mind. It was like he couldn't remember who he was. In homeroom, he insisted that his name was Susan and he was shot in the knee, and he limped so much that I couldn't believe he wasn't hurt. Then he said his name was Mohammed and he had to get his car fixed. The last time I saw him, he shouted that he had to use the bathroom, and he ran out the door. He looked terrified."

Asahi swallowed. "Anyone in my class could tell you that. But I'm the only one who saw what happened next. I went after him, in case he got into trouble. The last time I saw him, he was trying to force open the janitor's closet.

"He vanished. One moment, he was yanking on the handle like it had a million bucks and a car behind it, and then BAM! Gone. No one believed me, but no one ever saw Bat again."

Kazuya and Aleph looked at each other.

"Bat wasn't the only one," said Asahi. "Three weeks later, a third year started acting out like Bat did, and she disappear—I mean, no one knew where she was. No one saw her vanish like I did.

"Everyone lost their minds. Half a dozen teachers and the nurse resigned, half the students transferred out, and… things went back to normal. The police couldn't do anything about it, we couldn't do anything about it, so we just got on with our lives.

"We had a false alarm in January. A second-year went missing. Everyone panicked, but no one did anything this time. They just cried and made funeral arrangements. She turned up a few days later, after her parents paid off her kidnappers.

"By the time someone actually vanished, no one cared. They just pretend it's not happening, as if that'll save them," said Asahi bitterly. "We just mourned, sat on our hands, and got on with our lives. No one did anything."

Asahi stretched. "And that's our ghost story."

Aleph and Kazuya looked at each other.

"You can laugh now," said Asahi defiantly.

"I don't feel like laughing," said Kazuya in a voice like gravel.

"You're not lying," said Aleph.

Asahi relaxed. "Thank you for believing me."

"I didn't say that. I just said that you're not lying."

"…Thanks anyway?"

Kazuya licked his half-melted chocolate ice cream. "I don't blame them," he said. "When you're faced with something you can't fix, it's a lot easier to cope by pretending."

"Yeah?" said Asahi. "The least they could do is—"

"Why are you any different?" said Kazuya. "Are you doing anything about it?"

Asahi was speechless. She was shaking, and Aleph guessed she was either going to punch Kazuya or burst into tears.

"Why aren't you afraid?" said Aleph quickly. "I think what he means to say is, why do you think so differently than everyone else?"

Asahi dropped her popsicle stick. "I… I am afraid, when I think about it," she said after a while. "But… a lot's happened, and I've used up all my fear."

Aleph knew when it was safe to press total strangers for information, and when it would just make them angry. This was one of those times when it wasn't safe. "Should we head back?" he suggested. "I know how to get back to my apartment from the school. Could you please guide us there?"

"Good idea," said Asahi, forcing peppiness into her voice. "Follow me!"

X

After Asahi dropped off the two boys at the school, Aleph decided to head home. But first, he took a detour to the supermarket, to pick up some ingredients for dinner. Hiroko was sleeping when he got back, so he tried to make his beef and broccoli as quietly as he could. After washing the dishes and putting away the leftovers, he started on his homework. After that was a bath, and then bed.

X

Aleph's dream began normally. He was standing on the beach, watching a spaceship fall from the sky. In the background, a team of limbo dancers was playing ten-man ping-pong. One of them offered Aleph a cup of punch, which turned out to be gasoline, and then he had to go to the hospital and get his stomach pumped by a white-haired young man who Aleph knew to be Dracula.

And then the smell of metal permeated Aleph's nostrils. He sat up from the damp earth, as if waking from a dream.

"I can't believe it," said the shadowy figure in awe. "You found _him_."

"Who are you, anyways?" asked Aleph.

"The man who made everything possible for us," said the figure, ignoring Aleph.

"But he's a year younger than me."

"He built our house."

Aleph wanted to protest that his house dated to the Meiji era and that Hiroko's apartment was at least forty years old, but decided on a different question. "You said that something bad was happening," said Aleph. "Is Asahi's story true?"

The figure turned stock still. "…Yes," he said.

"What's going on? Does it have anything to do with that voi-"

Without warning, the figure grabbed Aleph by the shoulders and started shaking him. "Nothing like this has ever happened before," he babbled in a shaky voice. " _He's_ the first one who ever tried something like this. I mean, I don't think he was wrong, and everything—everyone else was worse, but he didn't realize there were consequences."

Aleph choked. "You're not making—I don't understand what you're-"

"I mean, he didn't know what would happen, but it was better than what everyone else came up with, but he just didn't know there was-"

The figure released Aleph.

"Aleph," he said in a serious voice, as if the last thirty seconds didn't happen. "Do you want to save the world?"

"I live here, don't I?" said Aleph.

"Do you want to be a savior?"

"Isn't that the same question?"

"Do you want to be the…"

Aleph opened his eyes to a less unfamiliar ceiling, morning sunlight flooding the room. "I was never one to begin with," he said out loud, with total conviction. Then he rubbed his head. "Do I want to be the what?"

X

Meanwhile, in the apartment that Asahi claimed was occupied by the Yakuza, Kazuya was hugging his dog.

"My name is Kazuya," he said to himself. "I am me. My name is Kazuya… Right, Sol-Leks?"

Pascal the dog growled.

"…Oh no…"

TO BE CONTINUED!

[1] Daleth as Aleph's older brother: I always thought that Daleth was the prototype for the other four clones. This does contradict the part where Aleph has to name all of the clones, but it does explain how he had a childhood in the Visionary sequences.

The two boys who crowded Aleph were Red Bear from SMT2, and Harley from DDS1. The teachers are named after characters from both Digital Devil Sagas.

I was considering giving Kazuya Chariot Arcana for a while, since it involves controlling two different forces for victory, but I decided that Emperor suits him better.


	3. Chapter 3

The views of the characters are not necessarily my own. The fights will start next chapter.

I always thought of Pharos/Ryoji/Death as being more of the personification of what humans think of death, as opposed to an actual incarnation of death like a Fiend.

I went back and edited the first and second chapter.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

As promised, Hiroko left Aleph's allowance on the kitchen table that morning, next to a note praising the use of ginger and garlic with the beef. Aleph boiled himself an egg and packed his lunch with leftovers, before heading off to school.

It was a cold, rainy day in Haruhata, so Aleph brought his umbrella. He walked to school at a steady pace, when he heard someone shout his name.

"Aleph!"

Kazuya came jogging up behind him, eschewing an umbrella in favor of a dark green raincoat. "Morning," he said through a yawn.

"Good morning," Aleph greeted his friend. "Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, I did," said Kazuya, dark circles under his eyes.

"Did Asahi's story keep you up?"

Kazuya nodded carelessly. "I was researching it," he said.

"Didn't you have homework?"

"That's why I was up all night," said Kazuya irritably. "We had to do systems of equations."

"We had to evaluate limits for polynomial division," said Aleph.

"Just L'Hopital those," said Kazuya dismissively. "Anyways, I was doing some cross-referencing on the local disappearances. I couldn't find anything about sudden bursts of insanity or people vanishing into thin air, but I did find a missing persons list in the newspaper."

"Asahi was right?"

"You're the one who said you believed her," said Kazuya.

"That's different," said Aleph. "She wasn't lying. That doesn't mean that what she said is true."

Kazuya stopped walking and stared at Aleph with new interest. "You can read liar's tells?"

Aleph shrugged. "People sound different when they lie. It's hard to describe how."

"…Do they sound higher pitched, or more shaky, or-"

"Have you ever watched a soap opera, and something about the picture looks incredibly fake, but you can't describe how?" said Aleph.

"I see," said Kazuya, and then added, "That's called Motion Interpolation. They add extra frames between animations, and it looks unnatural because it's too fluid. I did that for my—Wait." He stopped walking and shuddered.

Aleph stopped with him. "…Is something wrong?"

Kazuya paused for an unnaturally long time before saying, "It's nothing, Ale… never mind, you already know I'm lying. You always knew, didn't you?"

"You lied about why you came to this school," said Aleph levelly.

Kazuya's face reddened. "It's… that's not important right now," he said quickly. "It has nothing to do with an-"

A block away, the first bell rang.

Kazuya turned around and pointed at Aleph. "She was right about the students going missing," he said. "But there were a few other people she missed. Also, someone with her last name was on that list. Meet me at lunch and I'll tell you the rest. Bring Tae. Bye."

Kazuya sprinted off without a word.

Aleph shuddered. A deep, oppressive noise faded from his ears, its presence only known by the void it left behind. "What was that?"

X

Now that Aleph knew what to look for, he could see the atmosphere of dreary fear draped over the school. Still, it was reassuring to know what was going on. No matter what was happening, nothing was worse than looking at a void full of possibility. Aleph could imagine plenty of worse things, like… the government cutting off the air supply, or… um… teachers joining evil cults of doom.

Aleph had misjudged the amount of time it took to walk to school while talking to someone, so he was the last person to arrive, just barely making it before the bell. He took his seat in front of Asahi.

"Good morning, Asahi," said Aleph, turning around to face her.

"Good morning, Aleph!" Asahi replied. "Are you all right? You look worried."

"Kazuya said he wanted to tell us something," said Aleph. "I think it's about the disappearances."

"Not so loud!" whispered Asahi.

"No one is listening," said Aleph. He gestured to the other students, who were all in their own groups. The ones who weren't talking were preoccupied with books or drawings.

"I am sitting right in front of you," said Mr. Gale, without looking up from annotating _Urban Warfare for Dummies._ "I can hear every word you say."

"Thank you, Mr. Gale," said Aleph. He leaned in to whisper. "He looked worried. He told me to bring someone named… Tae? Is there anyone in the school with that name?"

Asahi shook her head. "Maybe she's a first year or a transfer student?"

"If you whisper like that, then it is obvious that you are up to something," said Mr. Gale, adding another sticky note to the page. "Keep your voices low and pay attention to your body language."

"Thank you, Mr. Gale," said Aleph. He sat back in his chair. "But why wouldn't he say who she is or where to find her?"

"Beats me," said Asahi. She glanced back at the clock. "Homeroom's almost over. How about I go look at the directory at lunch, and you go wait for Kazuya? I'll come back with Tae as soon as I can."

"Sounds good," said Aleph.

X

Kazuya's words worried him, but Aleph still managed to focus on class. It was boring, but bearable.

Aleph and Asahi split up at lunch as promised. Aleph headed for the tree where he had met Kazuya, but the first year was nowhere in sight.

Since Kazuya didn't specify a meeting spot, Aleph decided to look for him. But he wasn't in the freshman classrooms, on the roof, at the bakery, or even in the computer lab. Aleph stopped at the tree, hoping that he was late.

About ten minutes later, Asahi showed up. "There's no one named Tae in the entire school," she said. "Where's Kazuya?"

"I couldn't find him," said Aleph. "Couldn't he have brought her here instead of asking us?"

"Now you tell me," moaned Asahi.

The two students sat down and started eating their lunch. Aleph chewed his broccoli, while Asahi attacked her yakitori with relish.

"How's your lunch?" Aleph asked.

"Good," said Asahi. "Leftovers as usual."

"I'm eating leftovers, too," said Aleph.

There was more silence.

Asahi put down her lunchbox. "I can't even think about food right now," she said. "Something _must_ have happened to Kazuya."

Aleph stared. "Why do you say that?"

"It's too suspicious," said Asahi. "Have you ever read a book where someone solves the mystery ten chapters in, but something always happens to them before they can tell anyone? Like how Hermione was petrified after she found that a basilisk was using the pipes in _Harry Potter_ , or how Hughes was killed in _Fullmetal Alchemist_ after he-"

"Wait," said Aleph. "I haven't finished that one."

"You get the idea," said Asahi. "Kazuya found something, but someone must have wanted him gone!"

"Maybe one of the teachers had to talk to him?" suggested Aleph. "Or he's stuck in the bathroom?"

"Or… the yakuza came to silence him," said Asahi quickly. "Or he vanished like the others. Or he…"

"I don't think the yakuza would try to kidnap someone in the middle of the school day," said Aleph. "And you said that everyone who disappeared went insane. He looked fine to me this morning."

Asahi, however, was not to be deterred. She glared at Aleph. "We can't just sit here, we need to find out what happened to him!" she said, grabbing Aleph's hand. "Come on, let's go ask his classmates."

Asahi marched up to the first first-year student she found, a girl with short hair designing a computer model of an elaborate building that looked like a cross between a temple and a fortress. "Hi, you're a first year. Do you know Kazuya? Brown hair, about this tall?"

The girl turned around. "A first year named Kazuya?" she said. "I don't know anyone with that name. Sorry."

Aleph and Asahi kept asking around, but no one else said that they knew Kazuya.

"How is this possible?" said Asahi after the tenth first year.

"It _is_ only his second day in this school, and he's not from around here," said Aleph. "Not everyone in his class will know his name. And there is only a one in… four or five chance that they even share the same classroom."

"Good point," said Asahi. Then she brightened up. "Hey, why don't we ask the teachers? They have to know his name."

But then the bell rang before they could ask anyone, and they had to go to class.

X

"You're looking for a first year named Kazuya?" asked Mr. Lupa after their last class of the day—gym—ended.

"Yes," said Aleph.

"Which one?"

"The one that's this tall and has brown hair," said Asahi.

Lupa looked off into the distanced. "…No, I don't think I remember," he said. "What's his last name?"

"It's…" Asahi began. "It's…Kazuya… Kazuya… what was his last name again, Aleph?"

Aleph shook his head. "I don't remember."

"That's strange," said Asahi. "I mean, I know your last name's Mekata. You know my last name too, right?"

"Toriyama," said Aleph.

Mr. Lupa cleared his throat. "I suggest you look at the student directory."

"Again?" groaned Asahi.

"Let's try someone else," suggested Aleph.

After about half an hour of asking the teachers, they finally found Kazuya's last name and his address. When Asahi saw it, she blanched. "I… er… can't got there," she said.

"Why not?" asked Aleph.

"I… kind of… remember how I said it's a Yakuza hideout?"

"Yes."

"Long story short, I… kindofbrokeinandnowI'mbannedforlife."

Aleph blinked. "What?"

"Never mind, just go without me!" said Asahi. "Tell me tomorrow!"

"But what if you vanish, too?" said Aleph.

Asahi blinked. "Good point. Meet me at the ice cream shop."

X

If Kazuya's apartment building was a Yakuza hideout, it didn't show it. It was a lot nicer than Hiroko's place; the lobby was tasteful marble and glass chandeliers, and there were potted plants in every hall. The elevator had the old-fashioned grate over it, and the hall window on Kazuya's floor had a lovely view of the river.

Aleph knocked on the door to room 523, and a middle aged woman opened it.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hello, ma'am," said Aleph. "I'm Kazuya's friend from school."

"Oh, you're Aleph?" said Kazuya's mother. "Kazuya told me all about you. Come in."

Kazuya's mother put on the kettle and asked Aleph what kind of tea he liked; he said he'd have whatever she was having. "I'm so happy Kazuya is making friends," she said. "He never had many friends back in Tokyo. He's a very good boy, you know, and I hope he isn't troubling you too much."

"Is he here right now?" asked Aleph.

Kazuya's mother shook her head. "He's probably off exploring. How is he?"

Aleph swallowed. Compared to the dreary rain of school, Kazuya's mother radiated joy. When she spoke of her son, she shone like a crackling fire in a snowfield.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't break her happiness. She'd know soon enough, when her son wouldn't come home, and he face would be awash with tears,

There was a yap from the side. A husky bounded towards Aleph, and started jumping on him.

"No, Pascal, down," said Kazuya's mother, gently pulling the dog back. "He likes you."

"Kazuya is fine," Aleph lied, heart racing. He could hear the tone of the lie in his voice.

"I'm happy to hear that," said Kazuya's mother. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"It's fine," said Aleph with a dry voice. "Thank you for the tea."

X

"He wasn't there," said Aleph.

Asahi's hands shook. "I… you… We need to…"

"Do something?" said Aleph. "What can we do?"

"Anything!" snapped Asahi. "Look around, ask people, do something! We can't just—"

"What can we do?" repeated Aleph. "Running around in a random direct—"

"We have to try!" Asahi stood up. "Come on, Aleph, we—"

"You're a shark," said Aleph.

Asahi blinked, as if trying to figure out whether that was a compliment or not.

"Sharks die if they stop swimming," said Aleph. "You need to try, but you don't know what you can do, so you do everything."

"And what's wrong with that?" said Asahi icily.

"You're running blind," said Aleph. "You don't know any better than your classmates, but you run so much that you pretend you're not as helpless as they are."

Asahi's fists shook. "What do you know?" she growled.

"This isn't about Kazuya," said Aleph. "Someone with your last name went missing. Who?"

Asahi punched him in the nose. "I thought you were different," she muttered, tears streaming down her face. "You're all the same!" She walked off.

X

Aleph woke in the sunless desert.

"Not tonight," said Aleph, turning his back. "I can't deal with you."

The figure grabbed him from behind. "NO!" he wailed. "Don't leave me!"

"I told you, I—"

The figure let go. "Help him!"

"How?!" yelled Aleph.

The desert was silent.

"Where can we look?" said Aleph. "Where did he go? Who saw him go? What can we do?"

The figure laid his hand on Aleph's shoulder. "I know what we can do."

TO BE CONTINUED!


End file.
